2013 China Open

As some one pointed out that Zhenqi Barthel's current June world ranking is actually #50 while seeding at the China Open was based on the May ranking, it's even a better upset for Lily! However, it wasn't Lily's best upset at the Pro Tour/World Tour. It would have been her defeat of world #47 Daniela Dodean of Romania 9-11, 11-8, 2-11, 11-6, and 11-9 at the 2012 World Championships in Dortmund, Germany.

Women's Singles:
Lily is the last US Woman in the event. The gap between the Grand Slammer GUO Yue and herself is too big to overcome - for now. There is always next time. Round of 16 appearance for a US almost-17-year-old school girl is not bad at all. Technically, Lily was 16 when she played in the China Open. Lily is turning 17 as I'm typing now (June 16). Happy Birthday to Lily.

Women's Doubles:
Lily and Ariel stopped at the quarterfinal. The Chinese duet GUO Yue and LIU Shiwen were simply too strong. I've mentioned that GUO is a Grand Slammer. LIU is no slouch either. Although not a Grand Slammer, she won the Gold medal at the World Cup in Women's Singles (2009, 2012), silver medal at the World Championships (2013), Gold at the ITTF Tour Grand Final (2011), just to name a few.

US Girls' journey for the China Open is over but Lily and Ariel will continue their road trip to Egypt next week. A hat tips to them while other "regular" young girls are enjoying their summer vacation in Disney, beaches, malls, movie theaters, Coldstone Ice Cream,...